Camera-stand.



' No. 702,749. Patented lunen, |902K 4 .1. H.sn||TH. v y

CAMERA STAND..

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(Application filed. Feb. 2B, 1902.)

' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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lTo all whom/wt may concern:

"UNITED STATns- PATENT OFFICE.

l JAMES I-I. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAM ERA-STAN D.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,749, dated J une'l17, 1902.

i Application ledl'ebruary 28, 1902. Serial No. 96,140. (No model.)

ABe it knownth'atrI; JAMES H. SMITH, of Chicago, in the' county ofjOof'okiandStateofgIlli`V nois, have inyen-td" certain `new,.and useful Improvements'A in: Gamera=Stands,-1 of which:

and autmaticallyplampedin position, all,

of which ishereinaftermore particularly described, andf'deiinitely pointed'out in the claims.

In the drawings,vFigure l is a front end elevation of a camera-stand embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal Avertical sectional view thereof; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan View; taken upon' the' line 4 4, Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings@ represents a rigid frame,which maybe constructed in any well-known way and mouutedupon casters b. `The vertical uprigh'ts c of the frame are provided with longitudinaltgroovesd, Fig. 4, into which sliding guide frames orsupports consisting,A preferably, of upright members e e and cross-barsff at bottom. and top, respectively, are iitted, said -upright-.members being rabbeted, as shownat g, VFig.,4. A

vertical iron or steel rodh, Figs. l, 3, and 4,y is attached at top andbottomto `said crossbars f at the front of said stand midway between theguidemembers c, while a like rod i is attached/in like manner to the members ff at the rear.`

bracketj, and a like membern is pivoted in ylike manner at l0 in theibracket lc. Said clamp- Zing members areidentic'alin construction,

and eachlis provided Withfa vertical bore ithroughf which the* adjustable supporting- .rod h or i', as the case mayfbe, is inserted.

The outer end of the clamping member l is extended rearwardly and isf-jointedly connected by means of a rod p-with a lever q, pivoted at fr to a stationary support u'pon the main frame. A foot-leversis'pivoted'to the bottom of the frameat'its rear end in alinement with the point t, Fig. 4, from which said lever projects, as shown-in said last-named figure, the forward end of said lever being :jointedly attachedat sito they lever q. A leverl u, p ivoted at a stationary point u' upon theframe at the rear. end, is in like manner` connected lwith a releasing-rod c, the upper end of which is jointedly` attached to the clampv n, the free endofl the'leveru being jointedly connected witha foot-lever w, pivoted at t, Fig. 3, tothebottom of the frame. The members q s and fu. w, respectively, constitute compound foot-levers, the parts's w projecting side by side at 'the rear ofthe frame and near one side, as clearly shown inFig.Y 4. Theobjectof thus compounding said levers is to bring them out at one side of the vertically-movable guide-frame, thereby permitting a larger range of movement to the latter;'othe'rwise a single lever in each case would servethe purpose equally well, and hence'I do not'coniine myself "'to the lever construction shown. v

The-topofrthe rear cross-bar f is preferably beveled toward therear, as shown, to which member is hinged or otherwise pivotally attached, as indicated at ,nFigs. 2 and 3, an adjustable bed y forthe support of the camera case. Upon the forward end of said bed is a cleat e, against which the forward end of the camera is intended to rest. Yokesyf, Figa-1 and 2, are connected with pins y2, projecting laterally from the endsof the cross-bar f at the forward end of the stand. The rear end of the bed y projects considerably beyond? the rear of the frame, and thus in effect forms a lever, the fulcrum of which is at az. UponA .IOO

lifting the rear end of the bed the rear guideframe, together with the rod c', is correspondingly raised, the gravity clamping member n allowing the rod t' to slide upwardly through the bore therein. On the other hand, a depression of the rear end of said bed serves to tilt the forward end up, the rod 7L sliding loosely through the clamping member Z in like manner; but inasmuch as the outer ends of said clamping members tend to descend by the action of gravity the rods h i are clamped thereby, and said rods, together with said guide-frames, are thus supported at any desired height. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show the bed in one of an indefinite number of abnormal positions, which may be varied at will to adjust the camera to any angle or height desired. In lowering the camera the rear of the bed is grasped by the operator and the foot-lever s depressed, which serves to release the clutch Z, when by lessening the pressure of the hands the front of the bed is permitted to descend by its own gravity to the desired limit. By depressing the pedalfw the clutch nis released in like manner, which allows the rear end to descend. It will thus be seen that by a series of reverse movements of the bed y, acting as a lever, any desired adjustment may be obtained with the utmost facility and ease, while the automatic clamps serve to hold the bed rigidly and firmly in place in whatever manner it maybe adj usted.

It is obvious that the gravity-clamps may be released by merely lifting the free ends thereof by hand; but I prefer to employ special mechanism for that purpose.

I'Iaving thus described my invention, I clai1nl. The combination with the stationary frame of a camera-stand, of vertically-movable guide-frames at front and rear, a supporting camera-bed hinged to the upper ends respectively of said supporting guide-frames, vertical supporting-rods rigidly attached to said guide-frames, automatic friction-clamps attached to said stationary frame for normally clamping said rods against downward movement, foot-levers pivotally attached to the bottom of the frame and projecting outwardly therefrom, and means for connecting said foot-levers with said friction-clamps.

2. The combination with the stationary frame of a camera-stand, of vertically-movable guide-frames at front and rear, a supporting camera-bed hinged to the upper ends respectively of said supporting guide-frames, vertical supporting-rods rigidly attached to said guide-frames, automatic friction-clamps attached to said stationary frame for normally clamping said rods against downward movement, transverse levers q u pivotally attached to the lower portion of the frame, footlevers f w in operative connection with said transverse levers, and rods p c for connecting said transverse levers with said frictionclamps.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of February, 1002.

JAMES IVI. SMITH.

Witnesses:

D. I-I. FLETCHER, MALvIN JOHNSON. 

